Tuesday, October 31, 2017

Marketed: Wyoming Assets, HBP Leasehold, QEP Resources

QEP Resources Inc. (NYSE: QEP) aims to continue its divestitures in Wyoming with an auction for about 26,000 net HBP leasehold acres handled by advisory firm EnergyNet. QEP’s offering also includes nonoperated working, royalty and overriding royalty interest (ORRI) in 240 wells plus mineral acreage throughout the Moxa Arch in Lincoln, Sweetwater and Uinta counties, Wyo. The auction begins Nov. 8 and closes Nov. 15.
Source: Daily Dose of ShaleDirectories.com News

https://www.shaledirectories.com/blog/marketed-wyoming-assets-hbp-leasehold-qep-resources/

Monday, October 30, 2017

Average U.S. Shale Breakeven Oil Price Has Dropped 42 Percent in Four Years

The World Bank released its October 2017 Commodity Markets Outlook last week, finding the average U.S. shale breakeven oil price has dropped more than 42 percent since the beginning of 2013, thanks to technological improvements. Advances in technology and drilling techniques such as hydraulic fracturing, coupled with resource rich domestic shale plays, means American producers are continuing to thrive despite lower commodity prices.

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Of course, technologies such as horizontal drilling and fracking have opened a wealth of oil resources that were previously unreachable just over a decade ago. In the latest data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), shale production accounted for over six million barrels per day (b/d) in October of this year, up from about 1.5 million b/d at the start of 2010 – a 400 percent increase. In fact, EIA estimates producers will best the previous total U.S. crude production record set in 1970 next year, thanks in large part to shale development. As EIA states:

“EIA forecasts that most of the growth in U.S. crude oil production through the end of 2018 will come from tight rock formations within the Permian region in Texas and from the Federal Gulf of Mexico.”

EIA-2017-Oil-Production.jpg

While a combination of factors helped shale oil production skyrocket over the past several years, innovation in development has had the largest impact on overall efficiency, the World Bank Outlook states:

“Despite lower oil prices, shale producers have been able to raise production through cost reductions (mainly for services, equipment, and labor), technological improvements, and better planning decisions as knowledge expands in a relatively young sector.”

The Outlook continues,

“Advancements include longer horizontal pipe laterals, shorter drilling and completion times, greater proppant intensity, and the use of multiple wells at a single location. Well productivity continues to rise.(emphasis added)

This continued increase in production efficiency in the face of low oil prices has allowed the United States to become an increasingly important player in the global oil market. Now the largest oil and natural gas producer in the world, topping OPEC countries such as Saudi Arabia, America is not only competitive thanks to advances in shale development, it’s dominating.

Source: Daily Dose of ShaleDirectories.com News

https://www.shaledirectories.com/blog/average-u-s-shale-breakeven-oil-price-has-dropped-42-percent-in-four-years/

Sunday, October 29, 2017

Enviro-Terrorists Are Simply Terrorists Who Victimize Themselves

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K.J. Rodgers
Crownsville, Maryland  

….
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Enviro-terrorists twist facts and use scare tactics to convince themselves of their righteousness, but in reality, they are just like other terrorists.  

Scare tactics and fearmongering are the ordinary tools used by enviro-terrorists, although they are instinctively drawn to vandalism and violence as a natural outgrowth of their cult behavior. They take snippets of information out of context and blow it widely out of proportion to be disseminated to their fleet. The problem isn’t so much that they use these tools, but rather, that they are masters of their craft and take it to a new level by believing their own hyperbole, acting upon it and attracting the support of wanna-be enviro-terrorists too cautious to do it themselves (e.g., when Bill McKibben tweeted support for enviro-terrorists with masks and torches).

These wanna-be enviro-terrorists seem to be everywhere I look, probably because I consume a lot of media from places such as NPR. Before you think you’ve caught me in an embarrassing faux pas; I can explain.

First, I like to listen to podcasts, and one I’ve been a fan of is More Perfect, where they discuss the Supreme Court’s history. It’s sponsored by EarthJustice, which tells they us exist “because the Earth needs a good lawyer.” Every time I hear that pompous corny line, it sounds to me an awful like any other ambulance chasing trial attorney and I almost feel like asking them if they would want advertise on NaturalGasNow.

Second, I despise morning radio talk shows as they all put up the most annoying guy in the studio to ramble on about everything, so I listen to our local NPR station to hear traffic updates and catch up on local government happenings.

This is when I recently heard, Tom Pelton, Director of Communications for the Environmental Integrity Project, of whom I have written on a few times, describing counterterrorism tactics being used on environmentalist groups by ‘big oil’.

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They look very peaceful, don’t they?

He started off telling a story of how he was taking pictures of a refinery in Texas from a public road. He was stopped and questioned by a security guard and reported to the FBI as a potential terrorist. While the libertarian in me cringes, I can understand why one could be stopped and briefly interviewed. This is common and has been for years. Usually, the officer or guard will just find out what is going on and be on their way. Pelton, however, uses this instance to portray himself as a victim of the oil and gas companies’ efforts to smear environmentalists when, in fact, it’s the opposite — oil and gas companies defending themselves from enviro-terrorists and smears by their wanna-be allies.

He then referenced a report that some energy companies were using a military contracting firm, TigerSwan, to spy on and disrupt protestors at the Dakota Access Pipeline. The released report mentioned internal documents calling the protestors eco-terrorists and compared the water protectors to jihadist fighters, to terrorists — a national security threat. The author of the report, Alleen Brown with The Intercept, said:

“Although the protesters were, in fact, peaceful and nonviolent, the internal documents show that the security firm falsely described the clean water activists to law enforcement as terrorists”

Well, not so fast; they are terrorists by all accounts under the standard definition: “A person who uses unlawful violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims.” We know the protesters met this definition because of what actually happened.

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Phelim McAleer being kidnapped by peaceful protesters

Phelim McAleer, Filmmaker of Fracknation, was held hostage by the “peaceful” protesters. The protesters burned equipment, destroyed property, trespassed and sabotaged the pipeline – far from being peaceful. Check out the North Dakota website with pictures of the enviro-terrorism if you doubt Phelim. It was bad enough for Energy Transfer Partners LP to launch a suit against GreenPeace, Earth First, and others for inciting terroristic acts. There’s more on that here. They have plenty of ground to stand on when you consider how ISIS-like the protesters were behaving.

The kicker of Pelton’s piece isn’t that he goes on to discuss RICO, skipping over the #ExxonKnew scandal, but that he closes with:

“The oil and gas companies often argue that their interest is the national interest. But there is also a competing interest: the first Amendment to the Constitution.”

While the oil and gas is, indeed, clearly of national interest, as virtually our entire economy involves or depends upon the industry, where does Pelton come off bringing freedom of speech enter into the discussion? Since when does freedom of speech include the right to trespass, burn bridges, establish illegal encampments, vandalize others’ property and commit acts of violence?

This pathetic rationalization of “unlawful violence and intimidation against civilians in the pursuit of political aims” (terrorism) exposes Pelton as one of the enviro-terrorists in spirit if not in practice. Acting so, he victimized his own cause more than the oil and gas industry he attacked. Influence depends upon credibility and the closer fractivism edges toward enviro-terrorism, the less credibility it has. The DAPL protests might have felt good and even seemed like a win for a time but, in the end, the protesters gave up far more than they gained. Enviro-terrorists are losers.

The post Enviro-Terrorists Are Simply Terrorists Who Victimize Themselves appeared first on Natural Gas Now.

Source: Natural Gas Now

https://www.shaledirectories.com/blog/enviro-terrorists-are-simply-terrorists-who-victimize-themselves/

Friday, October 27, 2017

US Gas Exporters Rush To Sell LNG To China

U.S. gas exporters and traders are aiming to grab a bigger chunk of the lucrative, growing business of exporting gas to China, the world’s third-largest buyer, when they accompany Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to China in November. But the talk may all be hot air if the U.S. suppliers can’t compete with bargain prices agreed on long-term deals with rivals Australia, Qatar and Malaysia. According to a list seen by Reuters, 10 of the 29 companies travelling with Ross and U.S President Donald Trump are involved in energy and gas.
Source: Daily Dose of ShaleDirectories.com News

https://www.shaledirectories.com/blog/us-gas-exporters-rush-to-sell-lng-to-china/

Thursday, October 26, 2017

BLS Expects Oil and Gas Industry to Drive US Job Growth

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has released new projections of job growth through 2026, and the oil and gas sector features prominently. BLS categorizes oil and gas jobs under a broad category of mining, which is projected to experience 1.4 percent growth in employment from 2016 to 2026. The mining job growth projection is the highest among “goods-producing” sectors, which are segments of the economy not included in services, agriculture or the public sector. In total, BLS expects the sector to add 90,800 jobs by 2026.

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Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

 

Within the broad mining sector, BLS foresees “faster-than-average” employment growth “for a number of oil and gas occupations, including roustabouts, service unit operators, rotary drill operators, and derrick operators.” By 2026, BLS expects employment opportunities in all of these jobs by about 25 percent. Across all jobs in the oil and gas industry, BLS expects to see an annual job growth rate of 1.7 percent per year in the same time period.

But the benefits of increasing oil and gas employment are not exclusive to the industry. BLS states that the oil and gas sector’s job growth will “translate to more jobs in occupations related to this industry by 2026.”

These projections are already becoming a reality in the oil and gas industry. NES Global Talent and oilandgasjobsearch.com recently conducted a survey on employment in the industry, and its recently released Oil and Gas Outlook Report confirms that employers expect to be hiring aggressively and raising wages. After surveying 3,000 industry employers, along with 7,000 workers, they found that 60 percent of employers expect to recruit significantly in the next 12 months. NES Global Talent CEO Tig Gilliam said in a statement that expected short-term job growth “is being led by a sharp increase in investment in U.S. shale.”

The NES survey adds to the evidence from business research firm LimeLeads, which in September posted a report on the top 10 fastest growing job sectors in the country, based on a review of BLS monthly job data. Like the BLS, LimeLeads considers oil and gas jobs to be in a broader category it calls “Support Activities for Mining,” and observed that the broad sector added 52,500 jobs from August 2016 to August 2017. LimeLeads called this 20.6 percent growth a “whopping increase” in job opportunities in the sector. BLS data shows that over 30,000 of the 52,500 additional jobs recorded by LimeLeads were in the oil and gas sector.

 

 

 

Source: Daily Dose of ShaleDirectories.com News

https://www.shaledirectories.com/blog/bls-expects-oil-and-gas-industry-to-drive-us-job-growth/

Wednesday, October 25, 2017

#ExxonKnew Attempts to Reset Flailing Campaign With…a Billboard?

Public Citizen and a new project called the Center for Climate Integrity (CCI) have launched a new campaign targeting oil and gas companies in the wake of recent hurricanes. The groups have put up two billboards in Houston asking when “climate polluters” will “pay their fair share” and directing people to visit WhoPaysForHarvey.com. But a peek behind the curtain reveals that this campaign is organized by the same key players behind the #ExxonKnew campaign and is just the latest attempt to reset their struggling effort to attack the oil and gas industry.

As a refresher, Public Citizen has been active in the #ExxonKnew campaign for nearly two years. Rob Weissman, Public Citizen’s president, attended a secret closed-door meeting in January 2016 at the offices of the Rockefeller Family Fund (RFF), which has bankrolled the #ExxonKnew campaign. Activists at that meeting included Kert Davies, Matt Pawa, 350.org’s Bill McKibben, and Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) president Carroll Muffett, among others.

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The purpose of the meeting was “to establish in public’s mind that Exxon is a corrupt institution,” and “to delegitimize them as a political actor.” After a quick break for lunch, the group reconvened to ask:

“Does this group want to establish a rapid response and coordination structure to react to new research, revelations and legal developments as they happen? A higher level of coordination with a war room, joint social media, and coordinated organizing and media pushes?”

Nearly two years later, we’ve seen the degree to which these groups have actively coordinated with each other and their allies.

CCI launched last month as a project of the Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development (IGSD). IGSD was founded by Durwood Zaelke, who was the co-founder and president of CIEL from 1989-2003. Richard Wiles is the director of what is now CCI and is also the publisher of a new climate liability website, Climate Liability News (CLN), which launched in July. CLN has paid particularly close attention to developments in the investigations of and lawsuits against ExxonMobil, devoting a unique page on its website to the issue. Kert Davies, who attended the January 2016 RFF meeting, is listed as a member of CLN’s board, alongside Wiles and Alyssa Johl, a former CIEL attorney.

Matt Pawa, a trial lawyer who attended the January 2016 RFF meeting and serves on the board of CIEL, recently spoke at a conference with Public Citizen’s Weissman. Pawa has chased big payouts from companies for their contributions to climate change for years and is currently leading a climate change lawsuit filed by San Francisco and Oakland against five oil and gas companies.

Following the RFF group’s plan to “establish a rapid response and coordination structure to react to new…developments,” Bill McKibben, a top promoter of the #ExxonKnew campaign, tweeted a photo of one of the Houston billboards as soon as they went up.

Adrian Shelley, the director of Public Citizen Texas, told the Houston Chronicle that the billboards and website are “just the beginning of a larger national campaign.” WhoPaysForIrma.com has already been registered, though that site has not yet launched.

And while the slick website at WhoPaysForHarvey.com features all of eight sentences blaming oil and gas companies for Hurricane Harvey, it does not link to additional information or resources and offers no way to help the victims of Harvey and no solutions to address climate change. Meanwhile, the oil and gas industry pledged over $32.3 million to Harvey relief efforts. It remains to be seen how this new campaign’s billboards and barebones website will help address climate change.

What is clear is that these various efforts to attempt to bring climate litigation against oil and gas companies are being perpetrated by the same handful of activists who have been pursuing these companies for years. The goal isn’t to win the cases; it’s to generate publicity – a goal shared by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman with his investigation of ExxonMobil.

Activists are trying to create a public narrative that oil and gas companies deserve all of the blame for climate change, thereby shifting the blame from the individuals who rely on fossil fuels (including these activists) to the companies providing fossil fuels. The goal, as laid out in their memo nearly two years ago, is to “delegitimize them” and convince the public that oil and gas companies are corrupt. Or, as that memo’s author put it:

Source: Daily Dose of ShaleDirectories.com News

https://www.shaledirectories.com/blog/exxonknew-attempts-to-reset-flailing-campaign-witha-billboard/

6 Reasons Why Exxon/Mobil Will End Up at Dilles Bottom, OH

ExxonMobil is looking for a site to build a cracker plant in the Appalachian Basin.  I know a number of people who have spoken directly with ExxonMobil individuals.  It seems ExxonMobil has been looking for about a year.  Initially, they were under the radar for most individuals, but now everyone knows about it. Despite all of ExxonMobil’s efforts to find a site, all indicators show ExxonMobil will end up at Dilles Bottom where PTTGC has prepped the site, but not made a final decision.  It appears the decision is continually delayed which means PTTGC will not end up there.

There are six compelling reasons why ExxonMobil will end at Dilles Bottom:

  1. PTTGC is having a difficult time getting financing. PTTGC wants to partner with other Asian chemical companies, but these companies are bigger than PTTGC and they want to be the lead company in the cracker plant.  PTTGC is committed to being the lead company but may not be able to finance it.
  2. PTTGC is concerned about finding workers. I’ve been told that PTTGC is delaying its decision because they want to wait until the Shell cracker plant is almost completed so the workers can migrate from the Shell cracker plant to PTTGC’s cracker.
  3. The PTTGC’s leadership will find building the cracker plant at Dilles Bottom too big a leap for the company.
  4. Hurricane Harvey has damaged not only the cracker and petrochemical plants in Houston, but it also damaged the manufacturing facilities of the companies that build the machinery used in cracker and petrochemical. Many of the cracker and petrochemical expansions have been slowed or halted after the hurricane. The machinery that was being made for the expansions are going to replace the damage machinery in existing plants.
Cracker plant machinery is in very high demand and current U.S. customers will get first priority.  It could take years for PTTGC to get cracker plant machinery. ExxonMobil is a major customer for many of the machinery manufacturers which mean it will get first priority.  If ExxonMobil takes possession of the Dilles Bottom site, it will go to the front of the line for machinery.
  1. Hurricane Harvey has made it extremely obvious that the petrochemical industry cannot be concentrated in the Gulf. Even Secretary of Energy Perry has commented that we (the country) cannot afford to have all of our eggs in one basket (the gulf).   The petrochemical industry will be moving as fast as possible to build redundant manufacturing in the Appalachian Basin.
  2. ExxonMobil’s primary global petrochemical competitor is Shell. Consequently, it cannot allow Shell to manufacture chemicals at its Monaca facility with a huge price advantage.  I’ve been told ‘in the petrochemical industry market share is more important that price’.  With its considerable price advantage, Shell could become the market leader.

ExxonMobil needs to be in the Appalachian Basin

To some this hypothesis is outlandish.  If you work in petrochemicals and are aware of what’s happening in the Appalachian Basin, I would appreciate your perspective on how likely is ExxonMobil’s purchase of the Dilles Bottom site. Joseph Barone President Shale Directories, LLC www.shaledirectories.com jbarone@shaledirectories.com

https://www.shaledirectories.com/blog/?p=3598

Tuesday, October 24, 2017

Whiting Petroleum Names Bradley Holly New CEO To Succeed James Volker

Whiting Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: WLL) President and CEO James J. Volker is retiring after 34 years with the Denver-based company, according to an Oct. 24 press release. As part of Volker's planned retirement, Whiting has named Bradley J. Holly, 46, as president and CEO effective Nov. 1. Holly previously served as executive vice president of Anadarko Petroleum Corp.'s (NYSE: APC) U.S. onshore E&P group. Volker, 70, joined Whiting in 1983 as vice president of corporate development and has served as the company's president and CEO since 2002. Through his leadership, Volker has been instrumental to the company's success, said William N. Hahne, lead independent director of the Whiting board.
Source: Daily Dose of ShaleDirectories.com News

https://www.shaledirectories.com/blog/whiting-petroleum-names-bradley-holly-new-ceo-to-succeed-james-volker/

Monday, October 23, 2017

Marketed: Green River Basin Wells, Leasehold, Samson Resources

An affiliate of Samson Resources Co. is selling operated and nonoperated assets in Wyoming’s Green River Basin through a sealed-bid auction handled by EnergyNet. Bidding is now open for Samson’s interests in more than 130 wells and about 17,000 gross (11,000 net) HBP leasehold throughout Carbon and Sweetwater counties, Wyo., with a six-month average net income of more than $340,000 per month. Bids are due by 2:15 p.m. CT Nov. 8, and can be submitted to Ethan House, vice president of business development at EnergyNet.
Source: Daily Dose of ShaleDirectories.com News

https://www.shaledirectories.com/blog/marketed-green-river-basin-wells-leasehold-samson-resources/

Sunday, October 22, 2017

Working-rig count drops by baker’s dozen

The number of rigs working onshore in the Lower 48 U.S. states last week dropped by the highest number in roughly 19 months, Kallanish Energy calculates from data provide by Baker Hughes, a GE company.


Source: Daily Dose of ShaleDirectories.com News

https://www.shaledirectories.com/blog/working-rig-count-drops-by-bakers-dozen/

Friday, October 20, 2017

US Oil Drillers Cut Rigs For Third Straight Week

The U.S. oil rig count fell for a third week in a row, extending a two-month drilling decline, although producers have sharply ramped up bets against a fall in oil prices, which could spur another investment surge. The oil rig count fell seven to 736 in the week to Oct. 20, the lowest level since June, Baker Hughes, a GE company, said in its closely followed report. The rig count, an early indicator of future output, is still much higher than a year ago when only 443 rigs were active after energy companies boosted spending plans as crude recovered from a two-year price crash. The recovery in drilling, however, lasted for 14 months before stalling in August and September after producers trimmed spending plans due to softer prices. U.S. crude futures have averaged over $49 a barrel so far in 2017, easily topping last year’s $43.47 average. Looking ahead, futures were trading around $51 for the balance of the year and $52 for calendar 2018.
Source: Daily Dose of ShaleDirectories.com News

https://www.shaledirectories.com/blog/us-oil-drillers-cut-rigs-for-third-straight-week/

Thursday, October 19, 2017

BP's Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg To Step Down

Carl-Henric Svanberg, BP Plc's (NYSE: BP) chairman who helped navigate the British company through the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, announced his intention to step down after nearly eight years in the post. BP rarely replaces both its chairman and CEO in close succession, so the decision means current CEO Bob Dudley, who also took office in 2010, is likely to remain in his position for some time yet, according to company sources. Svanberg will chair the annual general meeting to be held in May 2018 and will remain in his position until a successor is in the post, the company said in a statement.
Source: Daily Dose of ShaleDirectories.com News

https://www.shaledirectories.com/blog/bpamp039s-chairman-carl-henric-svanberg-to-step-down/

Wednesday, October 18, 2017

ExxonMobil Acquires Crude Terminal In Permian Basin

Exxon Mobil Corp. announced Oct. 18 that it has acquired a crude oil terminal in Wink, Texas from Genesis Energy LP. The terminal is in the rapidly growing Delaware Basin, part of Permian Basin—one of the most prolific plays in the U.S. The terminal is strategically positioned to handle Permian Basin crude oil and condensate for transport to Gulf Coast refineries and marine export terminals. The facility is interconnected to the Plains Alpha Crude Connector pipeline system and is permitted for 100,000 barrels per day of throughput with the ability to expand.
Source: Daily Dose of ShaleDirectories.com News

https://www.shaledirectories.com/blog/exxonmobil-acquires-crude-terminal-in-permian-basin/

Tuesday, October 17, 2017

CEO Tony Sanchez’s A&D Strategy: Go With The Cash Flow

DALLAS—CEO Tony Sanchez unabashedly admits the good and bad of Sanchez Energy Corp.’s (NYSE: SN) deal history—the luck, the mistakes and the audacity of assets bought, sold or overlooked.   The Houston-based company has taken risks while making a point to avoid a cash flow catastrophe by acquiring assets that immediately make money.   “We like to buy assets that we can protect our downside, and that comes in the form of a lot of producing wells with stable production cash flow, to underpin our analysis,” Sanchez told an audience at Oil and Gas Investor’s A&D Strategies and Opportunities conference. “So, if we are wrong, we have production to back us up.”   In contrast, the rash of Permian Basin deals that have commanded the oil industry’s attention has been acquisitions for undeveloped acreage. Only some included production of more than 10,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d), according to Moody’s Investors Service.  
Source: Daily Dose of ShaleDirectories.com News

https://www.shaledirectories.com/blog/ceo-tony-sanchezs-aampampd-strategy-go-with-the-cash-flow/

Monday, October 16, 2017

OPEC, US Oil Markets At Odds

HOUSTON—Differing cost structures between the U.S. and OPEC oil markets have been significant in causing the two to move in opposing paths, according to Ashley Petersen, senior oil market analysts at Stratas Advisors, who spoke with Hart Energy following the recent “The Bull Returns - Where Do Oil Markets Go From Here?” webinar. Petersen added that while U.S. producers are basically producing at will OPEC has stuck to following its supply deal. Despite U.S. producers having fewer export constraints now, she said, exporting crude will eventually be more challenging and expensive for the U.S. than for OPEC. Cost constraints, including the rising costs for fracturing crews, sand, fluids and rigs, are problems the U.S. market faces due to producers primary use of large-scale hydraulic fracturing, Petersen said.
Source: Daily Dose of ShaleDirectories.com News

https://www.shaledirectories.com/blog/opec-us-oil-markets-at-odds/

Sunday, October 15, 2017

Working gas in storage rises 2.5%: EIA

The volume of working gas placed in storage during the week ended Oct. 6, rose 2.5% from the previous week, data from the Energy Information Administration shows.


Source: Daily Dose of ShaleDirectories.com News

https://www.shaledirectories.com/blog/working-gas-in-storage-rises-2-5-eia/

Friday, October 13, 2017

Saudi Aramco Considers Shelving International IPO

Saudi Aramco is considering shelving plans for an international public offering in favor of a private share sale to the world’s biggest sovereign wealth funds and institutional investors. Talks about a private sale to foreign governments—including China—and other investors have gathered pace in recent weeks, according to five people familiar with the IPO preparations, amid growing concerns about the feasibility of an international listing. The Saudi state oil company has struggled to select a suitable international venue for its shares, as New York and London have vied for what has been billed as the largest ever flotation.
Source: Daily Dose of ShaleDirectories.com News

https://www.shaledirectories.com/blog/saudi-aramco-considers-shelving-international-ipo/

Thursday, October 12, 2017

A&D Conference: Oil Stuck In A Rut, But Shale Poised To Lead

DALLAS–Oil prices likely have two strong quarters ahead but, like natural gas, crude is essentially range-bound in the near term, Anthony Yuen, global energy strategist for Citigroup, said Oct. 12 at Oil and Gas Investor’s A&D Strategies & Opportunities Conference. Citigroup forecast fourth-quarter 2017 Brent prices at $58 per barrel (bbl) and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) at $54—a divide that U.S.-based E&Ps have previously taken advantage of in the global export market. After that, prices will decline, Yuen said. Additionally, NGL prices will continue to fluctuate greatly due to the tug-of-war between supply and demand, he said. “NGL is something that we like a lot, but it is a market where you cannot control your own destiny,” he said. NGL pricing varies greatly because they’re dependent on oil and gas fundamentals for supply and while Asian and European fundamentals govern demand. “It’s not really controlled in the U.S.,” he said. “So that’s why we see a lot of volatility and also how we’ve seen propane prices really shoot up 30% or more in just two months.”
Source: Daily Dose of ShaleDirectories.com News

https://www.shaledirectories.com/blog/aampampd-conference-oil-stuck-in-a-rut-but-shale-poised-to-lead/

Wednesday, October 11, 2017

Marcellus/Utica Rig Count Race Tightens: OH Count Closes in on PA

It’s been a few months since we’ve brought you news about the monthly average for Baker Hughes’ venerable rig count–largely
Source: Daily Dose of ShaleDirectories.com News

https://www.shaledirectories.com/blog/marcellusutica-rig-count-race-tightens-oh-count-closes-in-on-pa/

Joe Knows Energy Tech Brief Reclaiming Strip Mines

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A Creative Approach to Reclaiming Abandoned Strip Mines Executive Summary Engineers are often tasked with solving difficult problems with limited time and budgets. This technical brief provides an overview of how a team of engineers collaborated to find the optimum solution to reclaim and compact the soils of a strip mining site for re-use as in developing a new gas processing  plant in Eastern Ohio. The engineers performed environmental and geotechnical studies and considered the client’s future needs in developing a unique site preparation process to treat the deep mining spoils that were unsuitable for construction. The evaluation process, the alternatives considered, and the final solution are discussed. Background JKE2.jpgThe EPA estimates that more than 500,000 abandoned mine sites are located throughout the United States. Redevelopment provides an opportunity to turn these sites into beneficial uses. The abandoned strip mining sites in north eastern United States can be good locations for large industrial such as natural gas processing plants, storage yards and warehouse or distribution projects. The environmental impact of developing these sites is minimal as they have already been impacted by the strip mining operations. Site development challenges in reclaimed strip mines include:
  • Uncontrolled strip mine spoils up to 100 feet deep that prohibit the use of traditional building and pad foundations
  • Mine fill laden with boulders which presented another unique set of problems
  • Compressed construction schedules to meet client needs and weather windows.
  • Variable facility requirements for different areas of the site development; foundations, vehicular traffic, parking, storage and support services
In addition to the physical site challenges, energy companies often face an extremely competitive market where speed-to-market and timing are critical to financial success. This speed-to-market often leads to the design and build schedules overlapping which further complicate the site development by requiring the site development team to be flexible and adjust to changing designs concurrently with site development activities. Solution Requirements The primary geotechnical objective was to develop a solution that mitigated settlement risk to the proposed structures but the site solution also required the following critically important considerations:
  1. Flexibility for unknown subsurface conditions
  2. Overlapping design and site preparation schedules
  3. Flexibility for modifying the plant layout
  4. Risk and dependability of the foundation system
  5. Cost parameters
Due to the fast-track nature of the project, the Joe Knows Energy team was working only with a general plant layout which could and did change during mass grading and site preparation. Design Process The Joe Knows Energy design team consisted of civil, geotechnical and environmental engineers, contractors and site developers working collaboratively to develop a strategic approach to address the physical site conditions, an aggressive construction schedule and design requirements that were yet to be defined. Members of the Joe Knows Energy design team were selected based on previous experiences working together. Team members had demonstrated a high level of trust in one another, an affinity for working collaboratively, the ability to provide continuous communication on their respective responsibilities and a willingness to provide direct and timely feedback to teammates. This collaborative and coordinated approach resulted in measurable benefits to the project including:
  • Costly mistakes were avoided
  • Demonstration foundation alternative tested on-site
  • Sequencing work to accommodate concurrent design and construction
  • Adjusting the design as more factors became known
The design solution to strengthen the existing loose mining fills was developed in the following stages:
  1. Site research and preliminary borings
  2. Clarification of design requirements and decision factors
  3. Geotechnical evaluation, cost comparisons and schedule assessment
  4. Solution selection
  5. Review of outcomes and results
Summary The Joe Knows Energy design team working collaboratively with the client to produce significant and measurable benefits including:
  • Selection of Deep Dynamic Compaction as the most viable and cost-effective method to address redevelopment of abandoned strip mine sites
  • Specifically focused on ensure that provides proper site preparation and structure support was created that met the clients facility needs
  • Adjustments in the site elevation and plant footprint occurred without disruption to the design process and allowed the elevation of the site to achieve dirt balance while considering a larger plant footprint and the shrinkage of soil due to DDC operations
  • Site redevelopment occurred within 14 weeks while design of the facility was being completed
  • JKE3.jpgMany design changes occurred but costly mistakes such as performing foundation preparation in areas that ultimately did not need it were avoided due to the team’s continuous communication
  • The project team sharing progress and design direction on a frequent basis which allowed for some areas of the site preparation work to be delayed while the impact of design alternatives were more thoroughly considered
  • Alternative design solutions in the tower/vertical constructionareas and other deep foundations included excavating to the depths of the foundations and performing the deep dynamic compaction at those elevations.
About Joe Knows Energy America has been given a great gift; the natural resources to provide the fuel for its growth with the Oil and Gas Utica Shale Play in Ohio. Joe Knows Energy wants to help America “Do it Right”!  Joe Knows Energy is passionate about Building America’s Future by helping Oil and Gas Companies with needs associated with Project Management, Logistics, Applied Technologies, and more. We help the Energy Industry harvest this God given gift by providing Infrastructure and Site Solutions and doing it the right way! Over the past year our “Team of Joe’s” has helped industry mitigate its top concerns and fears:
  • Accidents- Safety has to be #1 to make sure everyone gets home safe every night!
  • Delays- Regulations need to be managed
  • Surprises- Resources need to be available
At Joe Knows Energy we believe it starts with Leadership that is focused all on doing it the right way. Followed closely by having the right team of hard working “Joes” that are easy to work with, knowledgeable, and solution oriented. Resulting in a team that is Safe, Responsive, Scalable and Easy to Use which ultimately drives positive financial impacts for everyone involved Joe Knows Energy might not be a fit for everyone; but for those who we do fit – We would Love to Help You Build Yours' and America’s Future!  Joe Knows Energy provides comprehensive infrastructure and site solutions, project management, logistics and applied technologies for oil and gas energy companies throughout the Midwest.

http://208.73.48.94/blog/?p=278

DAPL Vandals and the Trendy Elitists Who Coddle and Fund Them

Tom.jpg?resize=75%2C95Tom Shepstone Natural Gas NOW
… 
A group called Rising Tide North America is behind some DAPL vandals. Both the Tides Foundation and the Levinson Foundation are in the background paying. The Argus Leader carried a remarkable story the other day about two Dakota Access Pipeline or DAPL vandals who were arrested for sabotaging the pipeline by using oxy-aceytlene cutting torches to cut through steel valves. The two perpetrators, both Iowa women, were quite proud of their dirty work, self-empowered by a naive sense of moral superiority (mother’s milk to all useful idiots) and what can only be described as the arrogance of indignant high schoolers. It tells us a lot about what motivates these radicals and none of it’s good. Even worse are those who fund and manipulate them.  
636364932811747899-170724-02-iubprotest-bp-512x384.jpg

Two DAPL vandals being arrested (from Argus Leader)

Here are the basics from the Argus Leader (emphasis added):

Two women who admitted to vandalizing the Dakota Access Pipeline during a press conference in Iowa on Monday are also suspects in pipeline incidents in South Dakota, authorities said Tuesday.

Des Moines residents Jessica Reznicek, 35, and Ruby Montoya, 27, were taken into custody Monday in Polk County, Iowa as they pried letters from an Iowa Utilities Board sign.

The duo read a statement claiming responsibility for acts of pipeline sabotage incidents along the route, which runs from the Bakken oil patch in North Dakota to Patoka, Illinois.

Montoya said she and Reznicek used oxy-acetylene cutting torches to cut through steel valves, starting in Mahaska County, Iowa.

“After the success of this peaceful action, we began to use this tactic up and down the pipeline, throughout Iowa (and a part of South Dakota), moving from valve to valve until running out of supplies, and continuing to stop the completion of this project,” Montoya said…

Alex Cohen of the Earth Defense Coalition, a spokesman for Montoya and Reznicek, said the women were still in custody as of Tuesday afternoon and that they haven’t been charged with offenses beyond a misdemeanor for damage to the Iowa Utilities Board sign.

“Since their statement, there haven’t been any additional charges, but they’re definitely expecting some,” Cohen said.

Cohen said the women plan to represent themselves in court.

Montoya and Reznicek are part of the Catholic Workers Movement, and they said Monday that their actions were meant as a nonviolent response to unresponsive regulators, elected officials and media.

They said they began to vandalize pipeline sites shortly after Election Day, setting fire to construction equipment.

They continued to hone their skills, targeting valves along the pipeline route. They encouraged others to follow their lead during their press conference Monday.

“We feel we have nothing to be ashamed of,” Montoya said. “For some reason the courts and ruling government value corporate property over our inherent human rights to clean water and land.”

The shallow infantile reasoning of these two speaks for itself. I suspect most readers will share my view that appropriate punishment is something on the order of 10 years hard labor cutting firewood with handsaws to keep themselves warm. Nonetheless, I am far less concerned with these two self-righteous malcontents than those behind them; the people encouraging them and other DAPL vandals and sponsoring similar acts of sabotage against other pipelines. Nearly every such act is aided and abetted by the moral and financial support of others who go to great lengths to hide their involvement. Take, for example, the spokesperson for  these two DAPL vandals; a fellow named Alex Cohen of the Earth Defense Coalition. If you go to this organization’s website and its About page, you’ll learn next to nothing about them other than the fact they are profoundly radical. The Home page says this:
If you’re Not Resisting… (To the best of your human ability) Then You’re Liable For… (Systemic racialized injustice, depletion of finite resources, dehumanization of indigenous peoples by corporations, and ever-worsening climate change & extinction events) Watching The World Burn (Quickly.)
Not a lot here either other than a window into the souls of those who want the world as we know it to burn so they can rebuild it in their own image. The Contact Us page, though, is one place on the website offering a bit of transparency; it provides a phone number for Alex. Google that number (314-971-6304) and you quickly learn both Alex Cohen and Ruby Montoya (one of the two DAPL vandals arrested) are listed as contacts for another amorphous radical group known as Rising Tide North America.  The Earth Defense Coalition appears to be little more than one of a collection of aliases used by Rising Tide; a tactic common with fractivists and other radicals
Rising Tide says it does “direct action…to confront the root causes of climate change…out of the conviction that corporate-friendly ‘solutions’ to climate change will not save us and that most government efforts are half-measures at best.” We know what that means, of course, and it’s anything but peaceful or non-violent, as they would have the naive believe. The DAPL vandals were simply pursuing that mission. Rising Tide also claims to have an EIN number for purposes of helping other groups secure tax-exempt donations, but there is no organization of that name listed on Guidestar, for example, where virtually every such entity can normally be found. Further searching, though, revealed this:
Recently RTNA received a grant from the Max and Anna Levinson Foundation to redistribute the funds to grassroots groups working within the climate justice and climate movements.  Rising Tide decided that the best way to do this was to open an application process for Rising Tide network groups and frontline community members to directly ask for microgrants to fund local, regional, or national projects. Providing  “no strings attached” funding is one of the needed elements of empowering local communities to develop fights that reflect their needs and issues, as well as helping to provide a foundation for local  direct action organizations and frontline voices.
The Levinson Foundation, in other words, is giving Rising Tide North America “no strings attached” money to finance more DAPL vandals. Except for its radicalism, it is, like its grantees, anything but transparent, a fact noted by Inside Philanthropy. A review of its latest 990 return (fiscal year ending May 31, 2014) indicates a $30,000 payout to an entity listed as “Media Island Institute” at 268 Bush Street, San Francisco, for the “Rising Tide campaign.” The group actual name is Media Island International and it is a fiscal sponsor for radical groups such as Rising Tide North America; a pass-through entity for purposes of tax-exemption and another degree of separation for funders such as the Levinson Foundation. The Levinson Foundation is thus spending yet another one family fortunes ways intended to assuage the guilt of subsequent generations for having done so undeservedly well as a result of their ancestor’s success. It is run by grandchildren of the man who made the fortune; Max Levinson. It is said he was a prominent Philadelphia businessman and the founder of the Merit Oil Company. Such is the irony of so many fractivist campaigns. Like the Rockefeller, the latter Levinsons want to prove their worth and independence by demonstrating they possess superior values to the old man who made the money and they intend to do it by spending the money he left to charity on their own causes and in such way as to not impose on the pampered lifestyles he left them. Funding DAPL vandals simply follows the trust funder rulebook. The Levinson Foundation is the only one doing it, either. The Tides Foundation 990 return for 2014 also shows a $40,771 grant to Rising Tide North America (through Media Island International) for “general support.” Tides, of course, is one of the vehicles used by Teresa Heinz Kerry to pass through money from her first husband’s fortune. It is, essentially, another money laundering group to finance activities such as those of the DAPL vandals. It is how fractivism is done. Trust fund money is behind every bit of it, passed down through layers of non-transparent organizations to the useful idiots who imagine it’s all their idea. Watch the short video below for an illustration of what the Levinson and Tides money has bought:
 
The post DAPL Vandals and the Trendy Elitists Who Coddle and Fund Them appeared first on Natural Gas Now. Source: Natural Gas Now

http://www.shaledirectories.com/blog/dapl-vandals-and-the-trendy-elitists-who-coddle-and-fund-them/

Tuesday, October 10, 2017

FERC OKs placing Rover compressor station into partial service

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has granted Rover Pipeline LLC approval to begin operating three compressor units at its Mainline Compressor Station 1 in Carroll County, Ohio.


Source: Daily Dose of ShaleDirectories.com News

http://www.shaledirectories.com/blog/ferc-oks-placing-rover-compressor-station-into-partial-service/

Water Treatment Seminar for Oil & Gas Activities in the Marcellus/Utica Region

Veolia, the world's largest environmental company, is hosting a free one-day educational seminar on Water Treatment developed specifically for oil & gas producers, petrochemical plants and refiners in the Marcellus/Utica region. Wednesday, November 8 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Hilton Garden Inn Pittsburgh/Southpointe 1000 Corporate Drive Canonsburg, Pennsylvania

Learn How Water Treatment Can Reduce Operational Costs and Limit Liabilities

The program will include case studies of water treatment facilities in the Marcellus/Utica region with a deep dive into the technologies that make them economical, reliable and sustainable solutions.  Benefits of better water management, as described in these case studies, are: > Minimizing trucking, reinjection and disposal costs > Creating discharge-quality water for reuse > Lowering operational costs for upstream & downstream activities > Compliance with difficult-to-achieve limitations for constituents such as TDS and selenium Recent projects will be discussed from design concept development and cost consideration to full-scale implementation. Our water treatment experts will also share the latest advancements in water treatment technologies.

Specific agenda topics will include:

> Produced water treatment from start to finish > Byproduct recovery from produced water > Supply water for a cracker plant > Refinery wastewater treatment for reuse > Retrofit solutions for biological treatment > And more!

Click here to register!

This event may qualify for Continuing Education credits.

http://www.shaledirectories.com/blog/?p=3570

Monday, October 9, 2017

Global Energy Perspectives: Saudi Arabia Cuts Crude Allocation For November

Saudi Arabia said it will cut crude oil exports in November by 560,000 barrels per day as the country makes good on its pledge to help rein in a global supply glut, an oil ministry spokesman said on Oct. 9. The cut is in line with the kingdom's commitment to an OPEC-led supply reduction under which Riyadh is required to slash 486,000 bpd. "Despite very strong demand from international waterborne customers at more than 7.711 million bbl/d, they were allocated only 7.150 million bbl/d," the spokesman said in a statement.
Source: Daily Dose of ShaleDirectories.com News

http://www.shaledirectories.com/blog/global-energy-perspectives-saudi-arabia-cuts-crude-allocation-for-november/

Water Treatment Seminar for Oil & Gas Activities in the Marcellus/Utica Region


The post Water Treatment Seminar for Oil & Gas Activities in the Marcellus/Utica Region appeared first on Shale Directories.
http://www.shaledirectories.com/blog/3570-2/